Putting on a virtual reality headset may be the beginning of a thrilling experience, one that may be more immersive than almost any other digital entertainment or simulation experience available today. Virtual reality headsets may enable users to travel through space and time, interact with friends in a three-dimensional world, or play video games in a radically redefined way. Virtual reality headsets may also be used for purposes other than recreation—governments may use them for military training simulations, doctors may use them to practice surgery, and engineers may use them as visualization aids.
In any use of a virtual reality headset, making the experience as immersive as possible may be critical. Regrettably, a variety of factors may disrupt virtual-reality immersion, and one of the most significant disruptions to having an immersive experience may be display artifacts such as display motion blur.
Display motion blur may arise due to slow pixel response times. Pixels in displays may not change instantaneously when set, but instead may transition over a period of time, during which the appearance of the pixel may not faithfully match the designated color of the pixel. Traditional displays may attempt to reduce display motion blur by turning off a backlight during pixel transitions. However, with this traditional approach, long pixel response times and/or high frame rates may leave insufficient time for turning on the backlight between frames. As a consequence, traditional displays may involve undesirable tradeoffs between frame rates, resolution, and display fidelity.